On 9/13/2016 Justin Fishel of ABC News reported the following in the article,”Trump a ‘National Disgrace’ Colin Powell Wrote in Hacked Emails:”

Newly revealed emails hacked from the private account of former Republican secretary of state Colin Powellshow the retired four-star general repeatedly blasting Donald Trump,describing him as a “national disgrace” who engaged in a “racist” movement.

A spokesperson for Colin Powell told ABC tonight that the emails revealed “are accurate,” and declined any further comment.

Much of the content of these emails was first reported by the website Buzzfeed, and ABC News has not independently obtained the emails. Buzzfeed quotes Powell in one email from June 17, 2016, to Emily Miller, a journalist and former aide of Powell. Powell writes that Trump “is in the process of destroying himself, no need for Dems to attack him.”

In another email Powell describes Trump’s birther investigation as a “racist” movement that incorrectly suggests Obama was born in a foreign country.

“The whole birther movement was racist,” Powell wrote. He also said Trump wanted to know if Obama was a Muslim. “As I have said before, ‘What if he was?’ Muslimsare born as Americans every (single) day.”

In a separate email titled “racism,” Powell writes, “There is a level of intolerance in parts of the Republican Party.”

“Buzzfeed reports that it obtained the emails from the website DCLeaks.com, a group that is suspected of having ties to Russian cyber spies. The private cyber security firm Threat Connect has reported its suspicion that DCLeaks was a Russia-backed operation, linked to the notorious hacker Guccifer 2.0.”

The news outlet that broke this story on 9/14/16 is BuzzFeed. Added information from the article, “Colin Powell Calls Trump A “National Disgrace” In Personal Emails” by Andrew Kaczynsk, Nathan McDermott and Tala Ansari is as follows:

“Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a retired four-star general who served under three Republican presidents, slammed GOP nominee Donald Trump as a “a national disgrace” and an “international pariah,” according to his personal emails seen by BuzzFeed News. Powell told BuzzFeed News, “I have no further comment, I’m not denying it. Powell told BuzzFeed News.”

“The remarks came in a June 17, 2016, email to Emily Miller, a journalist who was once Powell’s aide. In that same email Powell also said Trump “is in the process of destroying himself, no need for Dems to attack him. (Speaker of the House) Paul Ryan is calibrating his position again.”

“Powell went on to write that Trump’s reported adviser, Roger Ailes — the former chair and CEO of Fox News who left the company after allegations of sexual harassment — wouldn’t help Trump with winning over women voters.”

“And in a December 2015 email to CNN anchor Fareed Zakaria, Powell recounted his aversion to speaking about Trump to the press, writing, “You guys are playing his game, you are his oxygen. He outraged us again today with his comments on Paris no-go for police districts. I will watch and pick the timing, not respond to the latest outrage.”

“In another email, Powell wrote to a recipient about his aversion to giving Trump any more media attention: “To go on and call him an idiot just emboldens him.”

“In a July 21, 2015, email, in response to a news article about Trump’s giving out US Sen. Lindsey Graham’s phone number, Powell called it a “Celebrification of society,” adding that “Trump has no sense of shame.”

On 9/13/16, the BuzzFeed writers Andrew Kaczynsk and Talal Ansani posted the article, “Colin Powell Called Benghazi A “Stupid Witch Hunt” — And Condi Rice Agreed,” and the reporters wrote: “Powell said about the fatal attack on the diplomatic compound in 2012, “basic fault fall on a courageous ambassador who thought Libyans love me and I am ok in this very vulnerable place. Powell wrote in a December 2015 email exchange with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about US Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who died in the 2012 incident.”.

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Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
Leaking of emails …. it happens!!
“Newly revealed emails hacked from the private account of former Republican secretary of state Colin Powell show the retired four-star general repeatedly blasting Donald Trump, describing him as a “national disgrace” who engaged in a “racist” movement.” ….. more in the post!!

Gronda, I have been following this as well. Two comments are interesting. Powell does not deny he said what he said. The comment back in December 2015 that the press is “his oxygen” is apt and colorful. I admire Powell and find his words impactful. He has some less than supportive things to say about Clinton, but in an email exchange with Condoleeza Rice, he notes that the Benghazi hearings were witch hunt. to which she agreed. Thanks, Keith

I’ve always known that the Benghazi republican led investigations were more about finding dirt on Hillary Clinton at taxpayers expense v seeking the truth. I did watch some of the hearings and I was sick. I had questions which were never asked and would have been if they really gave a damn.

Yesterday on C-Span, I watched another congressional hearing on HRCs emails. They are not accepting at face value the FBI findings.

The press has been horrible in covering this 2016 race. Joy Reid and Lawrence O’Donnell have been highly critical of their journalistic peers. For months he has been tweeting that the press should ask DT or his surrogates to produce the IRS letter indicating / verifying that he is under audit. This would be too simple.

As for HRC, I totally agree that she is not perfect but the same could be said of the past 3 presidents. Like I keep telling others, few of us could survive the level of scrutiny (stalking) that she has endured for years.

Thanks. The same could be said for any president. Teddy was great but had a huge ego and temper. FDR was also great, but was a womanizer and aloof. Reagan was effective, but was almost impeached over the Iran-Contra affair and his veto to not sanction South Africa over Apartheid was overturned. And, so on…

Dear Keith,You do get the picture. For example, I had worried about President Obama being too green when he became President which he was. He had no executive experience. There is no competent executive who would have found himself surprised by a computer start up not working at the beginning of Obamacare being introduced to the U.S. public.

I do worry about the U.S. not sending ground troops into any middle east areas and I hope we are out of the business of toppling dictators. I hope HRC is asked specific questions during next week’s debate about what she has learned from previous failures. Ciao, Gronda

Obama will be remembered as a better president than the GOP gives him credit, buy shy of where we needed him to be, so pretty good on the whole. The ACA rollout was unforgiveable, as it gave too much ammunition to his opponents. I also fault him for not pushing on Simpson-Bowles as a start on deficit and debt reduction. Yet, with the opposition he had, he did accomplish some things and the economy, stock market, job growth have been pretty good. It is interesting that he is rated much more highly by our foreign partners than he is at home. Still, I think he could have fought harder for some collaboration with Congress, which is a skill that Reagan and Bill Clinton possessed.

Keith, An executive learns that you do not have to be liked and /or you do not have to like someone to work with them but you do have to accomplish something to suit both parties. Because the republicans were the ones pushing the concept of reducing the deficit, he should have been able to push through Simpson-Bowles. Gronda

Gronda, I agree. In some advocacy work I do with The Concord Coalition and Fix the Debt, one of the dilemmas we have found is the GOP shuts down when you talk about increasing revenue. The Simpson-Bowles plan used 2/3 spending cuts and 1/3 revenue increases. Based on the numbers, we cannot cut our way out of this problem – the math does not work. But, I agree totally that Obama should have made it an issue and said “let’s start with the Simpson-Bowles plan and prioritize.” In corporations, I see shelf documents created all the time, that waste everyone’s time because the leaders don’t have the chutzpah to move them forward. Thanks, Keith

You are singing my song. I used to become upset when republicans would argue just austerity saying every Household has to work within a budget and so does the U.S. Well even I know that if I have a leaking roof, that I may have to incur debt for a new roof, otherwise I won’t have a home. Better yet, I should invest in the necessary infrastructure of my home to mitigate damages from storms, etc.

A lot of business problems could be prevented. What Wells Fargo is facing now, from huge fines and class action suits for having employees create bank accounts to pad their stats without the customers consent was avoidable.. I know that Wells Fargo had lots of complaints about this issue but this practice persisted. The executives were lazy because they really didn’t want to change their business practices.

The last company that I worked at and loved, was copying Wells Fargo’s sales practices and I noticed similar untoward practices occurring.. The difference here is that I did my homework and wrote a letter to the CEO after I took an early retirement. Fortunately the CEO responded by enacting the appropriate remedies. I also sent this company a series of blogs that I had written to spell out possible consequences. (Under the “Nutty Consumer” icon which are not that good but the message is clear)..

The CEO also set up an office with a VP so that employees had somewhere safe to go to report issues with business practices that needed fixing. Too many companies not only do not have this option but the top executives are not receptive to receiving this data and then acting.

Gronda, good comments. Wells has been known a cross-seller long before this, so it is ingrained in their culture. Any customer service call you make is included with a sales pitch for something else. Bad practices can bring a bank or company down. Wachovia made two of the worst transactions ever in banking – Money Store and Golden West. They shuttered Money Store for a $4.3 Billion loss a few years later and they decided to sell more of Golden West’s “pick-a-pay” mortgage produtc which allowed the lendee to pay variably on the mortgage. This mortgage was designed for very astute audience, but was sold to anyone who could fog a mirror. Wachovia has “pick-a-pay” incentives for its staff. This took Wachovia down where they had to be sold or go under.

Back to Wells who bought Wachovia. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau championed by Elizabeth Warren and signed by Obama is doing everything it is supposed to do and is the reason Wells was fined. Yet, Republican leaders hate it, because it actually punishes banks and lenders for aggressive and fraudulent practices. And, over 90% of the money goes to defrauded customers.